It’s just the first day of the NHL’s free agency period, but some six hours in, The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman echoes the words of Detroit’s sports talk radio station hosts, suggesting that the Red Wings are “free agency losers”:
Detroit Red Wings: The offseason is far from over for the Red Wings, but it’s gotten off to an underwhelming start.
The Jake Walman contract dump was an early misstep, but one that could be forgotten with the right corresponding moves that explain why management needed to open up cap space. Those moves just haven’t happened quite yet.
Detroit missed out on free agents, like Roy, who could have elevated its blue line after subtracting Walman. Erik Gustafsson in place of Shayne Gostisbehere is a pretty lateral move. Extending Patrick Kane should give them a boost, especially after he has a full, healthy offseason to train. But management has yet to identify a David Perron replacement. Back in goal, the Cam Talbot signing crowds the crease unless the plan is to move out one of their existing contracts.
The Red Wings showed so much promise last season, but management just has yet to punch up this roster to build on it. There is still a lot of time to make it happen, but maybe it’s time to start questioning the Yzerplan.
Continued (paywall); I happen to believe that the “Yzerplan” is under continued evaluation and question as the Red Wings slowly and surely rebuild, and it’s bloody difficult to do anything other than hold Yzerman accountable for his actions without assuming that he’s infallible–or that he’s a terrible person for not making masterful moves 100% of the time.
Frankly, “It’s time to question the Yzerplan,” or suggesting that “The Yzerplan sucks/is failing” is a crutch in itself.
I’m not saying that the Wings “won” today by any stretch of the imagination–the Walman trade preceded a six-hour-and-twenty-minute swing and a miss at the top free agency targets–but shit happens. You deal with it, adjust your game plan, and learn. Even if you’re Steve Yzerman.
Detroit’s made a whole lot of lateral moves, re-signing Patrick Kane excepted. Now the team has to find other ways to improve itself. It’s gonna take more than six hours and twenty minutes to tell the tale.
